Skulduggery Pleasant: And Darkness fell upon him part 1
by MorgaineUrbanStar
Summary: ATTENTION: INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR LSODM! Darquesse is now out in the world and Skul and the reflection have to find her, but trouble is in sight: Darquesse visits Skulduggery during his meditations. He recognises that now that they are one, Val is still there. Can he cut off his feelings, is there a way out for them? my first fanfic so pls leave me ideas and comments ;)
1. Chapter 1

Fanfiction: Skulduggery Pleasent /(after LSoDM)

He was slowly drifting. Drifting into darkness and peace. Peace from all the memories and thoughts which tried to tear him apart inside, constantly. He shook of all these things, tried to focus on the little ball of shimmering light behind his closed non existing eyes. He got closer to the pulsing point, but as soon as he tried to touch the freedom praising spot his concentration slipped and he was as far away from it as before. Again he tried to relax and let the pain ease. He got closer. He reached out-

-A flash. A black liquid flash, as smooth and elegant as a stream of water. Immediately he straightened, waited for the first attack. Slowly the liquid formed a puddle in front of him, little strings of darkness rose from it. They joined the blackness around him, swirled and curled between his legs, rotated around his neck, turned over his head. He didn't move. He got so close this time. The strands suddenly hesitated, moved back to the liquid getting tighter with every turn as they braided themselves into each other. Tardily as they moved a figure inside got more and more visible. The shadows curled and swivelled around her like a second skin. Like a tired cat she opened her eyes looking straight at him with those dark, dark eyes of hers. His heart sank.

"Skulduggery.", she softly whispered into his skull, suddenly next to him, holding onto his shoulder and laying her head down. With the next move she shadow walked away from him, leaving his shoulder burning from her touch. She watched him, she smiled. "Skulduggery, don't do that.", she said. "Do what?", his voice was calm, cold. "That. Looking at me as if I wouldn't be myself.", her smile turning into a smirk. "You are not yourself, you are Darquesse.", he shot back. She slowly shook her head, her smirk turning sad. "You still don't get it do you? She IS me, Valkyrie does not exist anymore. We are one."

She circled him. He tried to focus. She grabbed him from behind, pressed herself against his back. Her hands covered his chest. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm her? Is it so hard for you? I still look like her", she shadow walked away from him, lifting her arms as if she wanted to hug him. "I still have her voice and I still have her feelings.", again she shadow walked right in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck, slowly moving one hand down until it was above his chest where his heart would have been. She looked down at her hand. She looked tired. "They hunt me, you know? Every sorcerer on this damn planet is after me.", she looked up, know real sadness in her black eyes. "They hunt me because I want to be free, be myself.

I had to kill a few of them. Some were friends…", she suddenly closed her mouth shut, trying to fight the tears. One escaped, running down her soft cheek. He looked down at her trying to figure out if the emotions were real or just very good acting. She returned his look. He felt as if she could see into his soul. "Why can't they leave me alone? China sent you didn't she? I didn't even try to tear the world apart, did I? So why are you still after me?" she tightened her grip around his left shoulder and pressed her hand stronger against his chest. He felt the urge to swallow. What an odd feeling. "The sensitives still have visions about you burning cities, turning continents to dust. You are a constant threat to the world." She didn't answer for a long time, just standing there looking up at him as if he would have more answers. His gaze wandered over her face, the face he used to know so well. He had to stop thinking like that.

A sudden move distracted him, he looked up. They were now standing in front of the pulsing light. She had shadow walked with him. She slightly turned her head so she could watch it. "It's a beautiful thing isn't it? Peace, freedom it promises. I wonder…" Slowly lifting her hand from his shoulder she observed the glowing ball. She stretched one of her long elegant fingers. Shortly before she was going to touch it she hesitated. Her hand sank to her side. Still with one hand on his chest she turned to him. "You won't find me this time, you know that right?" Again his heart sank. "I will find you. I will always find you. You can't hide from me." "No, the last times I was the one to give in and let you find me." She bit her lip in that typical way of hers. "I miss you Skulduggery."

Again this dark eyed look. Damn, it was killing him. "Why do you keep running away from me?" "Because you want Valkyrie back, you don't want this new me. You don't like me." He straightened. He'd forgotten that it was Darquesse standing there in front of him. Big mistake. "I can get you a doctor…" "You know as good as I do that no doctor could help me. You all just want to cage me. I want to be free! And you keep just standing there doing nothing to help me! We were partners once!" She was about to tear her hand of his chest and turn away from him. He wraped one arm around her waist, the other one holding her hand on his chest. He couldn't let her go so easily this time. He just couldn't. "We were more than partners." Her head jerked back.

She stared at him, unbelieving in her eyes. He pulled her closer, so close that they touched when she was breathing in. After a long silence she got her voice back. "Why do you make it so hard for us both? Why can't you just leave me alone out there, be finally free? Why can't I stay away from you?" she was crying. He wanted her to stop, wanted her to stop make him feel bad for trying to get her, Valkyrie, back. He needed her, he'd always needed her. He was helpless without her. "Give her back to me." His soft voice cracked. "Please." The tears flooded her eyes, started to run down in small streams over her cheeks, dripping down to her chest. "I can't. Even if I would want to, I can't. I don't even hear her inside my mind anymore, you know. She's gone."

Her body was shaking, her legs gave in. He tightened his grip, so she couldn't slip away from him. "Skulduggery…" she aspirated. She leaned in to him, her hand following his collarbones until she found the two little sigils carved into his bones. She activated his façade. He looked tired, mad and… fragile, so fragile. He gritted his teeth. Now she was able to see every emotion on his face. "You know, I constantly asked myself what your true face looks like…" a shiver went thru his façade, suddenly everything was moving under his skin, changing. A completely new face appeared. "OH…", she sighed in unbelievable relief. His cheekbones were the same as well as his chin, but the rest… She began to memorize every little detail of his face, so she would never forget it.

His lips where very full for a man's, but still masculine. His upper lip had a strong contour. His nose was very straight; the nostrils were a little bit broader. His hair was a bit longer, curling around his head like a dark crown. And his eyes, oh his eyes. She could feel herself shiver by the look of his so very blue eyes. She felt herself reminded at some glacier she had seen as a little child. But the look on his face, it broke her heart. He looked at her with a knowing look, at the same time it was as if he'd looked into stranger's eyes. She started crying again. Hell, at which point in her life had she ever been crying so much? She couldn't think of one. He pulled her into one of his bony hugs. She'd missed that. "Stop crying" his voice, like velvet stroking over her skin.

He lifted her chin with one gloved hand, so she had to look into his eyes. She parted her lips to give a nasty answer, but he was too fast. His soft lips covered hers and she gave in, resisting the urge to step back and disappear. He deepened the kiss, changing from slow and careful to fast and thirsty. She answered him. She needed him so much. Every time he'd found her it was like she was dying inside.

He'd been a part of her life for more than six years and now she was running away from him for five months. First he was her secret hero, her mentor, changing the world, saving it. But something changed. He was more than a hero to her. China Sorrows had said once, back then when she'd been Valkyrie, that she was a dumb girl to fall in love with him and she'd been denying it. Oh how right China had been. He paused the kiss, looking at her again. "Valkyrie please… let me help you." "My name's not Valkyrie." With those words she vanished. The pulsing light expanded, swallowing everything.

He woke.


	2. Chapter 2

SP2

He woke. Actually, he snapped out of his meditation. The first moment he felt peace. And then the memories came back and crashed every little good feeling inside him. Next he felt himself calm down. The urge to kick something rose inside him. No better: Someone! He went over his face with one of his gloved hands, resting his head for a moment. As he removed his hand Stephanie was standing in front of him.

"She visited you again, didn't she?" her voice cold.

Skulduggery finally lifted his gaze from his hands and tilted his head. Why did he ever team up with her? _Because she's the only one with a real connection to her memories_, he grimaced inside.

"That's none of your business." his voice was razor sharp.

"Oh, it's none of my business? That's interesting, I thought you wanted to find her and bring Valkyrie back. And as it happens I'm the only one with full access to her memories!" He watched her. It had been a bad idea, from the beginning on. Watching her stand there but not being her, he looked away. First Darquesse, now Stephanie. Why did there have to be so many of her?

Stephanie stood there: closed eyes, hands on her hips, breathing thru her mouth and calming down slowly. His heart would have sped up by this sight. _No, this is wrong_, he chastised himself.

"So, what did she do this time? Was there anything that seemed out of the ordinary? Was there any hint to where she could be?" Stephanie walked over to the little sofa that stood in front of the armchair he was sitting in. They had been in this hotel in Galway for three days now and their trace slowly grew cold. The last time Darquesse had interrupted his meditation they had been near a little cottage. He remembered it as one of the uncountable crime scenes they had been to during the whole Argeddion thing two years ago. Skulduggery had hoped to find some more tracks to finally find her. Well, they had found an old man sitting in the woods terrified as hell babbling about a dark goddess walking over his land. Their hope had risen, just to get smashed again when they found out that it had been just an ordinary banshee.

"Skulduggery?"

"Hm?"

"I asked you a question."

"To be exact, you asked me three questions." he stood up and strolled to the front window. Some leaves where flying with the wind leaving trees colourless. Winter was coming so fast. He straightened.

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"What no?"

"No she didn't leave any traces. No she didn't change the scenery to any special place we've been. ", he hesitated, thought about the last night. "… and no, there wasn't _anything_ out of the ordinary." _At least nothing that would matter for you. _

"Did she _do_ anything that could be important?" she asked without emotion in her voice.

Damn, she was better than he'd thought.

"I'll call Cassandra Pharos, she should build a wall in your mind. A very tall one." Stephanie took her phone from her jeans pocket.

His head shot in her direction. "What?!" his voice a dark cracking.

"She's exhausting you. Without your meditation you have a lack of concentration and she can enter your mind which means she'll always know where we are heading."

With a few long strides he was at the door of the room. A fresh face grew over his old skull as he activated his façade. One hand already on the doorknob, he reached out for his hat.

"What are you doing? We need to stay here and talk about this, Skulduggery!"

A cold feeling spread inside of him. Once he'd loved to hear her say his name…

"I go for a walk."

"What…why?! Are you sulking?!"

He turned his back on the shabby old hotel and got inside the Bentley. _And now?,_ he asked himself. The Bentley roared as he drove outside the parking lot. _Now I'll get some sleep_.

As he was driving along the road he found a hotel. It looked too expensive, to snobbish to be a normal hotel. Stephanie wouldn't search for him here. The woman behind the counter beamed at him. He smiled his nicest smile. "Welcome to the Valkiria Inn. My name is Elisabeth Kent. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to check in for one, maybe two nights. If it isn't any problem." his voice smooth as running water. He smiled his most attractive smile. "I would have only one request: I need to be left alone, all alone. No cleaning ladies, no phone calls, nothing. Could you do this for me?"

Elisabeth's eyes went wide. She lowered her gaze to the screen in front of her, tipping. "Well Mister…"

"Pleasant."

"Mister Pleasant," she looked up from her screen. "It seems you're lucky. The president suit is available until Thursday. It's the only room on the sixth floor. Would you like me to reserve it for you?"

"Yes please."

After some more tipping and signing bills, Elisabeth eventually gave him a little plastic card. Skulduggery took the lift to the sixth floor. She was right; it was the only room up here, so nobody could disturb him. He held the card against a sensor on the door. It unlocked. After he had shut the door, he entered the bedroom. He didn't bother looking around the suit. All he wanted was some sleep…

… Sunshine welcomed him, he relaxed. Gordon's house stood ahead of him, tall, broad and bathed in sunlight. Green grass grew beneath his shoes and the leaves rustled in the wind. When he was close enough to the house, he managed to recognise the silhouette at the front door. Her hair curled in the wind. She stood there looking at him, smiling. After a few seconds of hesitation he walked up the stairs and paused before her.

"I know what you did." Her warm voice welcomed him.

"Excuse me?"

"You left the reflection. You are in a hotel at the moment lying in bed, meditating. Why?" she seemed curious.

They were strolling across a field of blood red flowers sprinkling the fresh green grass.

"This is not Gordon's land, where are we?"

"You didn't answer my question. You go first; maybe I'll answer your ones later."

Darquesse took one of his arms leaned onto him as if they were just a normal couple, taking a walk on a sunny afternoon.

"I needed some sleep."

He knew she wouldn't accept this answer; he had to come up with a better lie. The sun went slowly down, taking all the light away. A pavilion appeared right before them. It was overgrown with wild roses and in the middle was a table surrounded by a bench made of greyish stone. Darquesse loosened her grip around his elbow and walked inside the pavilion, sitting down on one side of the bench. She motioned him to sit down next to her. Skulduggery hesitated. He couldn't resist her.

"You didn't need 'sleep', you wanted to see me again didn't you?" his gaze wandered over the fields.

"What would it change to admit it?" he tried to keep his emotions out of his voice. Not a really good attempt.

"Actually, it would change a lot." she reached out for his gloved fingers. He didn't mind. Silence fell upon them, covering them like a sheet. Her body spread heat like a little sun. He felt so comfortable, but he knew it was wrong. _Why do I have to be surrounded by her and yet not having her actually around? _It burned him inside.

She snuggled against him. The memories of last night came back sending him thru hell. He wanted to grab her and kiss her and … and…

"Skulduggery?" the red cloud in his mind vanished.

"Hm?" He needed to focus. That kind of thoughts needed to be shut off his mind. Finding the real Darquesse, bringing Val back, that was important know.

"What are you thinking about?" she smiled at him. Once he'd mentioned to her, that he'd loved her way to smile at him.

"Well, nothing really important. So, where were we? Ah, I remember. You wanted to tell me your very special secret little hiding place and the correct coordinates." She laughed and it sounded like little pearls falling to a sheet of satin. It made him happy that he'd made her laugh. Damn it, where did those thoughts come from? _Stop it, now._ _She's still Darquesse._ _And this won't change until you find her!_

"I'll give you a riddle. Not even a really good one."

"I hate riddles. Never felt comfortable with those."

"I know. At least try it, for me. I'll give you a hint." The smile on her face grew even brighter. "I once lost something. You found it for me. What have I lost? If you know this, then you'll know my current residence." She stood up and hauled him to his feet.

"Let's explore Gordon's, what do you think?" Darkness rose from the grass, turning it to a black mass of creeping shadows. Darquesse watched him; he could feel her gaze wandering over him. The ground split up and steady Gordon's house grew from somewhere down below. He'd only seen that once at the midnight hotel. Soon the whole house was above and Darquesse shadow walked in front of the door, leaving his right hand cold without her touch.

"Want to see what's inside? It always rebuilds itself from my current emotional state. So every time I step inside it's different." One of the shadows wrapped around the handle, left the door ajar open. She lifted one of her hands as if she would reach for him.

"Come with me." Her voice a begging.

She turned and disappeared inside the dark house.

After another moment of consideration he followed her.


	3. Chapter 3

SP 3

He stepped inside the darkened house. If it wouldn't have been for his extraordinarily good night vision, he wouldn't have even seen his hands in front of his face. Glancing around the room he searched for her in this well-known place. A muffled laughter reached him from upstairs. With one hand on the rail he took the stairs, always taking two at one time. He listened to the unnatural silence. He looked around, searched for her with precision. Still he tried to not make any sudden moves or sounds. Actually, it wasn't really necessary; she knew where he was in the house anyway.

As he reached the last stair he turned to the right. He could see her silhouette. Skulduggery sneaked up behind her. Devoid of sounds he wrapped his bony arms around her waist, turning her to face him. She seemed surprised; he liked this game way too much for his own good. He pinned her between the wall and his very own body, or what was left from it. Tears started to fill her eyes. He wanted to kiss them away.

He wanted her so much. _Take her_! His own darkness rose when he was near Darquesse, and right now it was unbelievable hard to not give in to this unbending voice inside him. One of his hands went up to his tie so he could loosen it and touch the symbols beneath. "No", she pressed his hand against her side, slipping her other hand to his skull. Her touch nearly burned him, he wanted more.

_TAKE HER! _His inside screamed at him with an intensity he wasn't aware of. Skulduggery felt something seeping thru his chest and recognised the look on Darquesse face. Vile wanted out, and she didn't mind. Her facial expression went from unbelieving to accepting in an eye blink. She pushed herself harder against him, forced him to stay close to her. "Take me…" she whispered.

_AAAAAAARGHHHH!_ He couldn't resist anymore. As she pressed her lips against his cold teeth he could feel the burning fire inside him slowly breaking thru. He huddled her against the wall, his hand searching for his collarbones. Suddenly he could feel movement on his bones. They paused the kiss and Darquesse admired her work. He didn't believe it; she had re-built his whole body, not any body, his very own. He felt the power of human muscles pumping thru him.

One tear dripped down to her cheek. Skulduggery fought his appetite for her back, slowly raised one hand to her cheek and wiped the drop away. Their foreheads touched gently as she huddled her cheek in his soft hand. Darquesse looked up to him. At the first moment he didn't believe what he saw in her eyes; she was afraid, probably of him. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't, so he took his chance.

His face hovered over hers; trying to find out if it was ok for her. Then she took the first step and brushed over his upper lip. At that instance he couldn't hold back anymore. He kissed her passionate, felt her skin under his own. Their lips didn't separate as he carried her into one of the lit rooms next to them. More shadows rose from his new-born chest and tangled into the once that were covering Darquesse. She moaned and deepened the kiss. A canopy bed grew from the ceiling. Skulduggery laid her on the bed, not moving an inch away from her side. Darquesse was already unbuttoning his shirt as the memories emerged thru the thick red cloud in his mind.

_She's not the one she used to be. You don't love her, you love Valkyrie and this is not Valkyrie! _The darkness inside him screamed out as he made his decision. He deepened the kiss one more time, then he took a few steps back and her hurt look made him numb inside. "What…?" her voice trembled. Once again he buttoned his shirt and tightened his tie; finally pulling his hat low in his face so she couldn't see how much it hurt him too.

"I have to go now." His voice was hollow, reserved and inapproachable.

"What do you … we … we were …" she gasped for breath. His façade was melting, dripping down from his bones to the carpet.

The skeleton detective turned his back on his former partner and friend.

"_SKULDUGGERY_!" she cried out with so much pain and effort.

He stepped into the doorway.

"Please… don't…" she shivered under her stagnant breath.

He glanced over his shoulder. She sat right there: the most beautiful woman he had ever known in his life. The woman he had started to love. This was the last chance to walk back to her and be one with her.

He let the moment pass.

"Valkyrie once lost her heart. I found it for her." She sucked in air heavily.

"I know where you're hiding and I will get you this time." Horror was in her eyes.

"I … I'm Darquesse not Valkyrie …" she started.

"Indeed. I can assure you: I won't make the same mistake twice."

She lost sight of him as he disappeared into a cloud of shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

SP4

Skulduggery sat in the Bentley and stepped on the gas pedal. He ignored all the red traffic lights, went straight through at every crossroad. Horns were honked and wheels squealed behind him, but he didn't notice. All that counted was getting back to the damn hotel he had left the reflection at. The engine roared as he rounded a pointy curve. Thoughts rushed thru his mind. What had he done? He had left her. His right hand hit the steering wheel. Skulduggery accelerated the car.

A black car drove into the small inner courtyard of the hotel. Stephanie had waited for him to return. He had been gone for three days. She lifted up her bag and closed the door silently behind her. It was five o'clock in the morning and the sun wouldn't show up in the next two or three hours. Black clouds filled the sky. Stephanie could almost smell the rain. She opened the passenger side door and sat down.

He could see her reach for the door handle. Skulduggery tightened his grip around the steering wheel, preparing for the pain to rise. The reflection got inside. Instead of agony ripping him apart, he could feel numbness spread inside him. That wasn't quite what he had expected.

"So …" Stephanie started.

"So" Skulduggery answered. Silence filled the air between them.

"Did you find anything?" she tried again.

"I know where she hides at the moment and we have to be very quick and careful. I ask you now, the first and last time: Are you with me in this? Will you help me get Valkyrie back?" Stephanie looked outside the front screen as if she would admire the view. After a few seconds she faced him.

"I will do everything in my power to stop Darquesse. Everything." Her eyes grew cold as she looked into his eye sockets.

"I take that as a yes." Skulduggery replied. _And I will do everything to stop you from hurting Valkyrie. Everything. _

"Vex called yesterday. _She_ wants to talk to you." He started the engine as she handed him his mobile phone.

"_Where have you been the last three days? You have to report me, you know that. Else way she will send someone else after Darquesse, and you know as well as I do, that this sorcerer won't try to talk to her first_." Vex sighed. "_Listen Skul, I know you want her back, but you have to play by the rules she made for you."_

"Are you finished?" the detective answered.

"_I hate you, you know that? I try to help you, you idiot!" Vex murmured the last part. "Yes, I'm finished_." He answered thru gritted teeth.

"Good. I have a track. She's here."

"_Wait, what? You have a track? Where are you, I'll send you some backup!_" Vex said fierce.

"I can't tell you, Dexter. I have to do this on my own." Then he noticed the look on the reflections face. "Well, actually I already have some backup."

"_The reflection? You must be kidding! You don't even like it_!"

"I guess I have to take what's available. However, would you align China that I don't give a fuck about her rules?" Skulduggery let it sound like a compliment.

"_Sure. I hate you too."_

The line went dead.

She had passed the last weeks inside this house,_ his_ house, and he hadn't had a clue. A smirk crossed her face. Darquesse had been tired of waiting, so she had given him a riddle and the bloody skeleton had solved it. She wasn't quite sure if he had also guessed where she was hiding, though. That was the reason why she was staying in this bloody old house of his, waiting, again. How boring.

Darquesse stepped over the remains of a chair she had smashed against the wall and turned the radio on. Avril Lavigne's "bad reputation" blurted out of the speakers. Taking one step after another she went upstairs, deeper inside the house. "Where did you hide it?" she sing sang to herself. Skulduggery once had told her, that there was an old metal box he had put everything inside that remembered him of his human life. She raised one eyebrow, as she turned around the corner and stepped inside a, for her, unknown corridor. Darquesse tilted her head. _Well, what have we here? _

There was only one door at the end of the hall. Another smirk appeared. "That was almost too easy …" She felt the change in the air before the pain kicked in. Her eyes widened in horror and agony. Darquesse fell to one knee, her face drawn to a silent scream. Darquesse's ear -drums ruptured, her veins leaked and her blood spread in her insides. Her intestines folded, her pulmonary alveoli expanded and popped. Muscles were torn apart, streak for streak. Tears flooded her eyes as they started to shrink. Her heart beat sped up to an inhuman pace, until her heart ventricles filled with the hot air of her perforated lungs. Slowly her brain started to sizzle.

_First brain, then heart. Damn it, I knew it was too easy._ Darquesse tried to stay conscious. _Bloody skeleton and his bloody safety arrangements._ It had been a quite good trap, though. Pain rose as she re-built her brain and heart. Three seconds later she stood up right in the corridor again, glaring at the door. The alarm was still on, like a high pitched dog whistle. With a twist of her hand the barricade started glowing blue and with the next one it broke like glass.

Darquesse strolled to the door. Finally victory was hers! At least in this little game with Skulduggery she had won. She smiled as she pushed the door open. The anchorage squeaked as if she had been the first person to open this door in a long time. The smile faded as she looked around the room. "What the…?!" Was everything she could say before the tears returned.

She couldn't believe her very own eyes. _This is not true, it can't be!_ She pressed one hand to her stomach. _How?_ Vile's armour was standing in the middle of the room. However, it wasn't alive. It was surrounded by things she knew. For example: there was an old photography of her and Skulduggery, they had known each other for three months when Ghastly had insisted on making one. It had been such an embarrassing moment for both of them. She smiled at the memory of this day. Darquesse shook her head. This had been ages ago.

As she taped around the room she found some more old stuff of her and Skulduggery. There was this stick he had given to her as a birthday present. Oh, and in the other corner there were her old clothes Ghastly had made for her when they had met the first time. _Ghastly_ … She let go of the fine fabric and turned to her left.

Darquesse roamed around the chamber and examined all the little bits and pieces that brought distant memories back from her subconscious. She would have never thought that Skulduggery would keep all these things. He had always seemed to her like an organized person. She hadn't thought that he had room for such sentiments.

A flash in the corner of her eye caught her attention. _Here you are … _she knelt in front of the little metal box. "Let's unravel your little mysteries…" Darquesse took the box and laid it down in her lap. She ran one hand over the lid. It was so beautiful and little symbols were carved into the surface. The metal screamed underneath her nails as she destroyed the protecting sigils. She opened the case.

"What… ?!"

"I wouldn't do this if I were you." Skulduggery had crept up behind her. His gun was pointed at her head. He surprised her every time. She stood up with the case in one hand.

"What the hell is this?!" she screamed at him.

"Give me the case." The hand with his gun didn't even jitter.

"Or what? Will you shoot me?!" The detective released the safety catch. One of her eyebrows lifted. That came unexpected.

"Give. Me. The. Case." Her insides grew cold at his harsh command. Skulduggery stretched out his left hand. "Now."

Darquesse swallowed hard as she handed him the box. Instinctively she took one step back. The gun was still pointed at her. She didn't like it to be at a disadvantage. Her brain calculated every possible scenario, but every single one of them ended with a shot to her head. _Bloody hell!_

Skulduggery held the box in his hand. The symbols were broken; she had looked inside his best hidden secret. _You stupid girl …_

He could hear her suck in air heavily, "What is this? Skulduggery, look at me and tell me what this is!" She sounded like a little scared child.

"I wished you wouldn't have done this." He lowered the gun and secured it. In this motion was so much tiredness and effort. Darquesse became even angrier and shouted at him.

"SKULDUGGERY!"

He looked up, stood there with his bony shoulders hanging down. He was a picture of exhaustion.

"Once", he started, "there were the ancients, humans with magical abilities. But they weren't free; they were ruled by dark gods, the faceless ones. For hundreds of years they were slaughtered and enslaved by said gods. The humans had tried a lot of times to revolt against them, but generation after generation failed." Skulduggery stopped. His voice grew quieter with every spoken word. As he regained control of his voice he went on.

"And then, thousands of years ago, everything changed. The gods had possessed people and started to see themselves not only as Gods, but also as Kings and Queens. Another rebellion had formed and tried to extinct them, but they hadn't even had a chance. Again they massacred the humans, but took the rebellion leaders as war prisoners. They tortured most of them to death. Only one young rebel withstood all the tortures. The dark gods soon got bored and let him rot in the dungeon." Skulduggery seemed to search for words. That was new.

"One day a young girl appeared in his cell. She had brought medicine and water. He didn't trust her, but his wounds were so deep that he couldn't even move without opening them again. She started to clean every single flesh wound, burned skin and broken bone. She came to him once every second day to purge his wounds. His wounds were long healed; still she managed to visit him every single night. At first she was the only one to speak, but soon he started to trust her and reply to her. Soon after, they fell in love. Heavily. They forgot about their bloodlines, all they cared about were each other.

But they knew that they couldn't be together. So after weeks of planning, they managed to escape. They hid in forests and abandoned old farms. Their luck didn't last very long. The other gods went after them. Eventually they ran into a trap and were separated. The faceless ones cast a spell on her. She should never be able to live with him happily, damned her to be reborn again and again to search for him. They bound the god in the girl to her human body and burned her in front of him, only her amulet remained. After that they tortured him again, nearly to death. They also cursed him; he should stay alive, spending his days searching for her and losing her again and again and again for the rest of his existence.

The rebel's physical wounds healed, but his heart was broken. Eventually he created a weapon to destroy the dark gods, the sceptre of the ancients, and in his anger he killed all his allies. He spent his days searching for her, hundreds of years past, until he found her again. They even had a child, a little boy, but the spell did his duty; when they found back together, they were torn apart by her painful death. Again years passed, the world changed. And then he'd finally found her again."

Skulduggery looked straight at her. Tears dripped down her cheeks. "No …" was all she managed to say. He gritted his teeth. Darquesse felt shaky and her knees gave in, but he was already there to hold her. She cried at his shoulder, her body shook as she tried to breathe in. "Sh…" his voice a soft whisper.

"How can the spell be broken?" Darquesse said under tears.

"You have to abandon your bad mood." Skulduggery answered. The amulet in the box on the wooden floor started to glow.


	5. Chapter 5

She clung to him, her head rested next to his own. With one hand she pulled him nearer until her lips almost touched the part of his skull where his ear would have been, if he would have had one.

"Nice try" Darquesse whispered.

One moment Skulduggery was in her arms, in the next he heard the air swish around him. His skull met the wall with a cracking sound, his vision blurred. Around him were little parts of the plastering. No, not plastering. They were parts of…

"Did you really think you could make me wear this damn thing? But tell me; is it one of the old god killer weapons? I thought Tanith destroyed all of them." Without hurry she strolled towards him. Skulduggery still lay on the floor and tried to focus. Darquesse stopped a few steps away from him, hunkered down.

"Aw, did I hurt you?" She asked with a voice as sweet and sticky as honey. "Good." Her eyes went black, shadows rose from them, linked with the other ones around her. An impish grin spread across her face.

Skulduggery grunted and stabilised himself against the wall. One hand went to the back of his head. _Damn it._ He forced himself to walk towards her. Shadows seeped through the hole in his skull. Suddenly he stumbled, went down to one knee.

"You have to be careful, my dear. You are seriously injured. "Again the air rippled around him, sending him against the other wall. This time he didn't stand up.

Bare feet came into his sight as Darquesse came over to take a better look at her work. Skulduggery coughed and black splattered across the floor. He tried to sit up, but his hands gave in.

"Can you do me one last favour?" Skulduggery asked and turned his empty eye sockets in her direction.

She laughed, "Everything, my love."

"Stay exactly like this."

Darquesse furrowed her brows. Skulduggery pulled something out from underneath him. The amulet. Her eyes widened and then narrowed again. "I'm not going to wear this."

"You don't need to, _sweetheart_." He spat the last part. The ground around Darquesse began to glow in an icy blue. A thin line, crossed only by small symbols, appeared. "China! I knew I should have let her die!" She tried to step out of the circle without success.

In the meantime Skulduggery managed to stand up and staggered towards the door, amulet in hands. "You can't keep me in here _forever_!" As if the room would hear her words the wooden floor cracked angrily. He looked over his shoulder. Darquesse was still standing in the circle, but Fire licked on everything within in. All the memories, destroyed.

"I know, but it will be long enough." He closed the door behind him. Her scream echoed through the house.

"So, what is your plan?" Stephanie turned as he arrived downstairs. "Keeping her in this room forever? You know that this won't keep her at bay! We need something more effective." The sceptre lay heavy in her hand, he could tell. Skulduggery walked over to his secretary and opened the last drawer.

The reflection couldn't see what he was doing. He revolved and revealed his well-known revolver to her. "_This,_ is not what I meant when I said more effective." She furrowed her brows. "With what did you load it anyway? Normal bullets won't do her any harm."

"This is nothing you should be concerned about. I have a plan. You will stay here." With these words he already started up the stairs.

"And what am I supposed to do? Stay here and … and … wait?!"

Skulduggery stopped at the top of the stairs, he didn't turn to face her. "You are my back up. If I need you, I'll call you." He took the last steps and vanished into the corridor.

Stephanie was alone in the living room. _He's ruining my plans! I can't_ _stay here and wait until she escapes! She will break free and kill him, my family … me._ The black crystal inside the sceptre began to glow. She turned and walked up the stairs, towards the room where the party was about to start.

Darquesse glared at the lines carved into the wooden floorboards. For the forty-seventh time she had paced the bloody circle. _Damn it_! She extinguished the flames and sat down in the middle of her cage.

_You see; life is tough. You don't know how to handle this. Let me out and I can bring everything back to normal._

Ha, ha, ha. Very funny and no, this is my body now. I'm in charge.

_You won't be for too long. _Valkyrie answered.

What do you mean?

_Are you really that stupid?_

Shut up.

Valkyrie sighed_. Skulduggery will return and when he returns he's going to kill you._

No he's not.

_What makes you so sure about it?_

He won't kill me because of you. Darquesse replied.

_You told him that I'm gone. So what would hold him back?_

Hope.

_Hope?_

Skulduggery has faith that he can bring you back.

_I see. But he once promised me to kill me when he has to. He will do it, for me_.

No, he won't. You are his assistant, his little girl. A smile curled Darquesse lips.

_Stop saying that._

He would never kill you, he just couldn't.

_Stop it._

I mean, why would he kill his little puppy?

_Stop it, please._

Kill his only hope for forgiveness? Lose his former partner?

_Please._

He would lose his only love.

_I SAID STOP IT!_

Fire rose from the long cooled down ash. _Interesting._ Darquesse thought by herself, not amused in the slightest. The door swung open.


	6. Chapter 6

Stephanie stepped inside the little room, sceptre in hand. She closed the door behind her and turned to face the world breaker number one. Silence filled the space between them.

"Finally we meet again, Darquesse." Stephanie spat the last bit.

"Wow, I thought you would come up with a better intro. After all, you are my reflection." Darquesse answered without really noticing the look on the reflections face.

"Shut up! You are not allowed to speak." _She really tries to stay calm, brave little thing_, Valkyrie thought disgusted inside Darquesse's head. Darquesse had to agree.

"Well, did Skulduggery send you to scare me? Well, it doesn't really work at all." She stood and tried to make herself as imposing as possible in the little glowing circle. The wooden floor cracked beneath her. The circle was getting weaker, but not weak enough to demolish it.

A devilish smile crossed Stephanie's beautiful angel like face, split it open like a fresh flesh wound.

"Oh, you mean your little skeleton detective?" the smile grew even wider. Darquesse's brows furrowed.

"What have you done to him?" An insane laugh climbed out of the reflection, shook her like a madwoman. "Not here to save you." She answered casually.

Darquesse tried to ignore the annoying comments from Valkyrie in the back of her head and stay calm and focused on the subject.

"I ask you again: What. Have. You. Done. To. Him? If you have hurt him I swear…!" The words came out like little daggers, sharp and deadly to the core. Valkyrie's comments had an end, that wasn't quite what she had expected.

Stephanie's smile faded, she raised the sceptre instead. "Uh, uh, uh! Bad little girl, I'm the one who asks the questions." The black crystal began to glow as if to underline her words. Darquesse straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin as an answer. "Good girl."

"What do you want?" she pressed through her teeth. She needed to get out of the damn circle!

"I want you dead!" Stephanie raised the sceptre a little higher to fix it on her.

(Slow-motion to Darquesse)

_Everything was so detailed. Every little thought seemed to rush through her mind. Darquesse saw the black lightning reach out for her, but it was so slow. Too slow and her thoughts were so fast! Until her mind came to a stop. Skulduggery. She couldn't save him. She had wanted to save him, maybe be with him. He had been the only person worth her time. They had had their moments, actually. _

_But he had been too focused on Valkyrie. It always had been about Valkyrie. When Darquesse had been nothing more like a flicker in Valkyrie's subconscious she had had the opportunity to see her grow up, see the relationship between them grow. At the beginning it had been so innocent, but after a while both of them couldn't ignore the fact that there was more than there probably should have been. Love. But neither Skulduggery nor Valkyrie had the opportunity to tell the other. _

_That was a shame. Darquesse had to admit that it was all her fault, but she wanted to be free and … and … maybe… maybe she wanted him as well? She wasn't sure about these human feelings. _Why didn't you tell me? ,_ Valkyrie asked. Her voice was distant to Darquesse, like a long forgotten echo. Valkyrie stood in front of her, like she had a body again. _**Tell you what? That I'm in love with a Skeleton? What difference would it have made?**A big one_, Valkyrie answered, now louder it seemed. _

**Anyway, it's all over, he's dead and we are going to die any second from now**_. _She never said that he is dead._ Darquesse heartbeat picked up the pace. _**You mean… he maybe is**_… _Still alive, yes, I believe that. But Stephanie will kill him as soon as she is finished with us. We need to stop her.

**Good idea, there's only one little problem; we are still inside of the damn circle and the lightning is only a few centimetres away from us.**We need to combine our forces_. _**Yes. Wait …what!?**We need to merge, become one.**Aha, well what about... NO!**It is the only possibility left to save us and Skulduggery_. Skulduggery …_

_Darquesse hesitated. Her voice sounded strong but strange, distant. _**What do you need me to do?**You need to feel the space where we are connected to each other_. Valkyrie lifted her hands to connect them with hers. It felt odd. _And now, you need to let go_. _**Let go?**Let go of this body, let your magic flow. I'll do the same.**And this will work?**Actually_, _I don't know, but it sounds good to me_. _Do you have a better idea?

**If I die, I'll kick your ass**_, Darquesse promised with a glare. Both of them tried to relax. Finally they found the space where everything interlinked. They let go. Magic flooded Darquesse's mind like a rushing wave crashes against the shore. Incredible indescribable colours poured out of both of them; their magic. She felt herself slip to the ground. Unbelievable Powers unfolded within her. _

_She could feel Valkyries hands melt with her own ones. It was… fantastic. Suddenly everything exploded into white light._

The lightning emerged from the sceptre of the ancients to destroy good old little Valkyrie and her inner daemon. Soon she'd be the one and only true Stephanie. The flash dashed in the direction of her very target. All at once Darquesse dropped to the floor and the lightning missed.

"DAMN IT!" she fixed the sceptre's angle and wanted to shoot as white light spilled from within Darquesse. It streamed down her cheeks like tears; they seeped back into her skin and left it glowing. Her mouth opened and more white energy oozed from it, leaving her lips paler and paler with every second. Her hair lost its dark colour and remained white as snow, such as her skin, lips and eyes. She seemed blind. The entire colour was drenched from her. Unnamed luminous colours radiated inside her pupils. Stephanie hesitated and took one step forward. That was the moment when the whole street blew up.


End file.
